Ajax host Legia Warsaw in the second leg of their Europa League last 32 tie needing a win to book their place in the next round.
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With AZ facing an impossible job to reach the next round, Dutch football’s hopes in Europe rest on the shoulders of Ajax, who go into their second leg with Legia knowing a win of any sort will guarantee their place in the next round.
The Amsterdam side performed well in Poland last week but could only come away from the game with a 0-0 draw which means no away goal advantage for Peter Bosz’s side.
Speaking at his press conference, Bosz stated that Ajax would not play for a 0-0 draw which would take the game to extra time and possibly a dreaded penalty shoot-out, “We will try to decide the match early.
“All these questions always come to a team that has missed many penalties. Then you get those questions “Can you train for them?” and things like that. We must make sure we finish it before extra time tomorrow.”
Ajax go into the game on the back of a 1-0 win over Vitesse at the weekend, while Legia Warsaw were stunned 3-1 at home to Ruch.
Team News
Bosz will be without Kenny Tete, who was red carded in the first leg last week, while Daley Sinkgraven is a major doubt. Jairo Riedewald is likely to come into the side for Sinkgraven. David Neres could make his debut from the bench but Justin Kluivert may be rested after starring for the U19’s in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday.
Possible Ajax line-up: Onana, Veltman, Riedewald, Viergever, Sanchez, Schone, Ziyech, Klaassen, Traore, Younes, Dolberg
Possible Legia line-up: Malarz, Hlousek, Dabrowski, Pazdan, Jadlowiec, Kopczynski, Radovic, Qazaishvili, Odjidja-Ofoe, Necid
Key Men
Kasper Dolberg
The young Dane has had an excellent first season in the Ajax first team and already has two goals to his name in the Europa League. Dolberg’s name is being linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs and he will be eager to make an impact in the latter stages of this competition. Only two goals in his last 12 games isn’t a great record but the 19-year-old is still creating chances and if he can take one on Thursday it will push Ajax towards the last 16.
Tomas Necid
At the other end, former PEC Zwolle star Tomas Necid will be hoping to find a crucial away goal for Legia and will be a test for centre back duo Davinson Sanchez and Nick Viergever. The 27-year-old is yet to score since joining the Polish side in January but he can make himself a hero with the fans by scoring in the Amsterdam Arena.
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